A Quiet Christmas
by The Cheez
Summary: When Danny returns to Amity Park late at night on Christmas Eve, will he find himself a chilly reception or a warm welcome home? Cross-Posted on AO3.


It was approaching eleven o'clock on Christmas Eve when the late train pulled into Amity Park station. A young man of twenty-five with messy black hair and bright blue eyes stepped onto the platform amidst the crowds of people coming home for Christmas. Pausing, he watched as people were greeted warmly by loved ones before leaving the station. He noticed a man wearing a Santa suit walking up and down the platform, ringing a bell, asking people to give money to the children in the local orphanage. Pushing through the crowds, the young man approached the man and dropped a few dollars into the collection bucket.

The man looked at him quizzically for a moment, as if to question how much he put in the bucket, before smiling and saying, "Thank you sir, and have a very Merry Christmas."

The young man smiled back, nodding almost imperceptibly before weaving his way through the crowds towards the exit. It was only then that the man in the Santa suit realised, although it was snowing at the time, the young man was not wearing a coat.

The young man walked through the streets of Amity Park somewhat aimlessly, enjoying the feeling of the snowflakes falling and the chilly night breeze ruffling his hair. He knew full well that it would be just as easy to transform and fly, but tonight he was enjoying walking. Unbeknownst to most of the population, this young man's alter ego was the ghostly protector of the town and many others, Danny Phantom. Soon he came to a stop outside a large brick mansion, home to the Manson family, heirs to the deli toothpick cellophane-twirling industry. Here, the young man knew, a particular Miss Samantha Manson would be residing. She would be visiting her parents for the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah, and no doubt would be asleep, resting up for the following morning's celebrations. Although her family did not celebrate Christmas, she still attended various Christmas parties with friends and their families.

Seeing that all the lights were off in the large household, the young man made himself comfortable sitting on the front step, leaning against the front door, to wait until morning. Although as soon as he was somewhat comfy, his cell phone began to ring loudly. Whipping it out, he glanced at the caller ID before responding cheerfully. "Hey, Tucker."

"Danny! How are you, man?" Tucker replied, his voice filled with too much excitement for that time at night. Danny could hear loud music with a thumping bassline, as well as the buzz of conversations in the background. "Are you still coming back to Amity for Christmas?"

Danny smiled, imagining his somewhat hyperactive friend as the life of the party. "Yeah, I'm already here. I got the late train in."

"Really? Where are you, man?" Tucker practically yelled into the phone.

Danny winced, pulling the phone away from his ear. "I'm outside Sam's. And keep it down, Tuck. I don't want to wake her up."

"You mean she doesn't know you're here yet?" Tucker replied, slightly quieter.

"No, she doesn't," Danny replied shortly. "And I plan to keep it that way. Hell hath no fury like Sam when she's been woken up in the middle of the night."

"That never stopped you before." Tucker countered, a hint of humour evident in his voice.

"That was different," Danny answered quickly, his cheeks immediately heating up. "They were emergencies."

"Sure." Tucker drawled, the smirk evident in his voice. "Don't tell me you never checked on her at night after fighting a ghost, just to see that she was okay. And Jazz could have easily patched you up."

"Shut up, Tucker." Danny glanced up as a light flicked on in one of the rooms above him. "You've woken her up, so I better go."

"Merry Christmas, man." Danny could tell that his best friend was grinning. "And good luck."

"See you, Tucker."

At that, Danny hung up. Remaining seated on the front step, he watched as Sam opened her bedroom window and poked her head out. She glanced around as if she were looking for someone. She was about to pull her head back inside when she glanced down.

"Danny?"

Danny watched with mild interest as Sam proceeded to pull her head into her bedroom and close the window. Unfortunately, in the process of this, she managed to bang her head against the window frame, leading to a string of infuriated profanities spoken in hushed tones. Moments later, Danny found himself staring up at the girl of his dreams from his position on the floor. He had been leaning comfortably against the front door until it was flung open and he had found himself falling back to land on the ground at Sam's feet.

"Hey, Sam."

Sam seemed to ignore his greeting as she quickly lifted him off the ground and dragged him inside, closing the door abruptly behind them. Pulling him to his feet, Sam promptly ushered him into the kitchen so they could talk.

Sam cut straight to the point. "What are you doing here, Danny?"

"Nice to see you too, Sam," Danny replied, his voice laced with sarcasm.

"Yes, yes. I know, but why are you here at…" Sam glanced briefly at the clock on the wall. "Quarter to twelve on Christmas Eve?!"

"My train got in late." Danny found that he began rubbing the back of his neck nervously – something he hadn't done since his teens. "I wasn't planning on waking you until morning."

"So that I could find a frozen Popsicle-Danny on my doorstep?!" Sam shrieked in hushed tones, seemingly for her grandmother's sake. The woman was in her nineties after all. "And you're not even wearing a coat!"

"Ice powers, Sam," Danny replied, his smile bordering on a smirk. "I _like_ the cold."

Sam scowled angrily at the amused grin on Danny's face, "All the same, you can still die of hypothermia. The human half of you, of course."

Danny threw his hands up in surrender. "I didn't mean to wake you up. If Tucker hadn't been talking so loud…"

If looks could kill, Danny would have spontaneously combusted before the words fully escaped his lips. She stalked forward and dug a pointer finger accusingly into his chest. "You can't blame Tucker for this, Danny. You were the one talking loudly on the phone on my doorstep, not him."

Danny took this as an opportune moment to get up from his chair. After glancing briefly behind himself, he began to back away towards the door. Danny was only mildly surprised when Sam pounced on him, tackling him to the ground and knocking the breath from him. Danny knew he could have turned intangible, but the speed and force that Sam put into the tackle would have sent her crashing to the ground, potentially causing serious injury, something Danny would never want to bring about.

What startled Danny was noticing exactly how low cut Sam's black nightgown was as she straddled him, her hands pinning his shoulders down. He could feel the warmth radiating off her body, and the scent of her favourite lavender soap wafted down to his nose. She was breathing heavily, drawing his eyes to her heaving chest. Danny's face flared bright red.

"S-Sam?"

Sam seemed equally uncomfortable as suddenly she too realised how compromising their current situation was. She didn't spring away instantly, as they often did when they were younger. Instead, she removed gingerly her hands from his shoulders and glanced away.

Now that his arms were no longer pinned down, Danny lifted his hand to brush her cheek. Sam quickly turned into his touch, and her eyes fluttered briefly shut. He propped himself up on the other elbow, drawing closer to her. His gaze flickered momentarily to her lips before returning to her eyes, then raised a single eyebrow in question. A hint of a smile quirked the corner of Sam's mouth adorably, and she draped her arms around his neck. They leant in towards each other, their eyelids sliding shut.

The clock struck twelve.

Sam jerked back, her eyes snapping wide open in an instant. She leapt off Danny, nearly tripping over her slippers. She jumped to her feet and turned away so she could hide her burning cheeks.

"You should go now. Your parents will be waiting for you." Sam coughed lightly, trying to cover her embarrassment.

She hurried to the stairs, assuming he could let himself out when she was stopped by Danny's hand on her arm. She was tugged forward, her eyes flying open wide as she was met by the light pressure of Danny's lips on hers. They drifted closed again, and she wrapped her arms back around his neck. His hands found her waist as his tongue traced the seam of her closed lips. Her lips parted, and they deepened the kiss. She was sure they would have stayed like that forever had oxygen not been a necessity.

They drew back, their faces flushed, and Danny smiled. Sam rested her cheek against his shoulder, relaxing into his body as Danny began running his fingers up and down her back. Tingles ran along her spine as he whispered softly in her ear.

"Merry Christmas, Sam."


End file.
